


Small Heart Made of Steel

by DisappearingOctopus



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bullying, Deaf Character, Deaf Yamaguchi, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7708819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisappearingOctopus/pseuds/DisappearingOctopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"My name is Tadashi Yamaguchi. You probably don't remember me. You saved me from bullies in middle school. I always wanted to thank you, so “thank you!”"</p><p>It hit Tsukishima like a freight train. He remembered everything. Of course this guy wasn't responding to him. Tadashi Yamaguchi was deaf. </p><p> </p><p>(inspired by A Silent Voice)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Can't Forget

**Author's Note:**

> I'm soooo pumped for this! I was inspired by A Silent Voice which I HIGHLY recommend if you're looking for a new series to read. The artwork is really nice and it's such a well put together story. It's also getting a movie in September!! Please enjoy!!

“Thank you very much!” a silver-haired man smiled. He passed a handful of change over to a customer along with a receipt. “Your order should be ready in just a few minutes. May I help whose next?”

The shop was as busy as ever for a Saturday morning. Families, couples and friends came to Stud Muffin for the famous cupcakes, and stayed for the group of attractive men working behind the counter. Koushi Sugawara and Sawamara Daichi were the co-owners of Stud Muffin, and entering their fourth year of university. The name came from when Suga was a little more than tipsy at a bar one night and kept calling Daichi “stud muffin.” It was pretty funny for a while until he ran into his biology professor and introduced his boyfriend by his drunken nickname.

_“Professssoooor~ Lemme introduce you to my stud muffin, boyfriend! Hahaha sorry I mean my boyfriend, stud muffin!!”_

To Suga's embarrassment, he was constantly reminded of that night by Daichi and other students in his biology class, who somehow found out about the event. He also never made eye contact with that professor ever again. But when the two of them had to pick a name for their cupcake shop, “stud muffin” was tossed around as a joke, and inevitably stuck.

When they needed help running the shop, their friend Asahi Azumane volunteered to work right away. Feeling like they needed more help, Suga put out a help wanted ad, which brought Kei Tsukishima. Daichi and Suga were surprised to see a figure and personality like Tsukishima want to work in a cupcake store, and one called Stud Muffin nonetheless. Apparently, Tsukishima hadn't been able to get a job anywhere else on campus, and the couple soon learned why. His personality was worse than they ever expected.

Daichi was able to startle him into easing up on his wise-cracks and relaxing a little bit, but neither him nor Suga really let him interact with customers, slightly worried he'd upset someone. So Tsukishima usually worked in the back with Daichi and helped out with baking, while Asahi helped Suga at the storefront. Despite the initial worry, the team of four had been together for about a year, and had grown to be quite successful.

“Daichi!” Suga called to the kitchen behind him. “We need some more of the red velvets!”

“Heard!” Daichi yelled back. He turned back to his work on the countertop and called to Tsukishima who was preoccupied with slicing fruit. “Tsukki, we need more cream cheese frosting!”

“Don't call me that, please,” Tsukishima responded. He set down the knife and went to the fridge to pull out ingredients.

“Would you rather me call you cream puff, cream puff?” Daichi teased.

Tsukishima turned to glare at his boss. “Since when was that even an option?

Daichi laughed as he pulled down a large bag of sugar. “I kid, I kid. Don't want to make you uncomfortable but 'Tsukishima' is kind of a mouth-full, don't you think?”

Tsukishima ignored him and went to the kitchen island to start baking. This was never a job Tsukishima thought he would have, but he learned to really like it. He enjoyed how meticulous the work was and how exact measurements had to be. It was challenging at times, but not so challenging that it was a burden and stressful.

“How are your classes so far, Tsukishima?” Daichi asked to make small talk.While Daichi, Suga, and Asahi were all going into their fourth year, Tsukishima was going into his second.

“Fine so far,” Tsukishima replied. “Everything is kind of boring right now.”

“What about your electives?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you taking any electives? You know, for fun?”

Tsukishima cocked his head, as if he didn't know what fun meant. “Oh, uh no. I'd rather get all the important classes out of the way first.”

“You'll drive yourself crazy that way,” Daichi told him. “I tried doing that and I hated it right away. So I took an art class for fun.” Daichi turned and smiled at Tsukishima. “If I hadn't done that, I would’ve met Suga.”

“So you're saying I should take a pointless class to possibly meet someone important.”

“I'm saying you should expand your interests. Who knows, you might like it!”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. He wasn't a huge fan of anyone telling him what to do, and preferred to do things his way. He was about to say something back to Daichi when he was handed a tray of cupcakes fresh from the oven.

“These are the s'mores,” Daichi told them. “Bring them out front and ask Suga if he needs help with anything. We're probably hitting a rush soon.”

Tsukishima nodded and left the kitchen with the warm tray of cupcakes, freshly frosted. He stopped and stared wide-eyed at the line of probably twenty to twenty-five people at the register. They were all wearing matching shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and basically anything else that would have a logo on it. Tsukishima walked over to the counter where Asahi was restocking the display window.

“Here, they're s'mores,” Tsukishima told him.

“Ah, thanks!” Asahi replied. “We still need red velvet...probably vanilla soon too.”

“We're working on it,” he replied probably more annoyed than he really was.

“S-sorry!”

“No, it's fine, sorry,” Tsukishima apologized and eyed up at the line of women. “Who are these people?”

“A sorority?” Asahi guessed. “I think they-”

“Asahi, Tsukishima,” Suga turned around from the register and handed each of the boys a towel and a spray bottle. “These ladies are going to be eating here, I need you both to clean up the tables quick.”

“Sure.”

“Right away!!!”

Suga went back to the customers as Asahi and Tsukishima began to walk around the counter to the dining room. Before leaving, Tsukishima called into the kitchen. “I'll be right back, we have to clean tables. Also we're low on vanilla.”

“Be quick!” Daichi called.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and went to join Asahi on the first table. “You better listen to him,” Asahi said. “You know how scary Daichi is when he gets mad.”

“Yeah but unlike you I don't totally lose my composure.”

“How can you not?!” Asahi complained. “Those faces aren't normal!”

Tsukishima pushed a chair in and turned around to clean the adjacent table, when he stopped dead in his tracks. A few tables away next to the bay window was a guy probably around their age wearing a sweatshirt from the university. His face was fully freckled and his eyes were staring intently at his computer. He was typing away, only pausing to take a ship of what was probably coffee or a bite of his cupcake. He looked so incredibly familiar to Tsukishima, but he couldn't figure out why or where he knew him from. Something about him was so striking, so innocent, and so provoking.

“Asahi,” Tsukishima whispered. He hunched over the next table, keeping a close eye on the man.

“Hmm?”

“Look over at that guy sitting by the window. Do you know him?”

Asahi briefly looked up and shook his head. “Nope. Looks like he goes to this school though. Why, do you know him?”

Tsukishima's eyes narrowed, as if it would help him remember. “I think so.”

Asahi looked at Tsukishima and back over at the man. He shyly smiled. “He's cute, huh?”

“Huh?!” Tsukishima spat out. He swallowed hard and scrubbed the table, not wanting to draw attention to himself. “Who cares?”

“You, I think,” Asahi teased.

“No, I don't!”

“Go over and say hi!” Asahi encouraged. “If you think you know him, he might remember too.”

Tsukishima frowned and left Asahi to clean that table by himself. “Knock it off, or I'll tell Daichi you're goofing off.”

“Please don't!” he protested. The thought of an upset Daichi brought fear into Asahi's eyes. “Look, I'll take the left side of the cafe, you take the right. Then you'll have to pass his table and maybe he'll say something.”

Before Tsukishima could protest and repeat that he didn't care, Asahi jumped over to table on the left side, leaving Tsukishima by himself. Asahi turned around and waved his hand to gesture Tsukishima to keep cleaning. He grumbled back and continued down the right half of the cafe.

As he got closer to the freckled boy, Tsukishima was quietly hoping the other would speak up, but he never did. He was trying not to obviously stare, and was probably failing. The guy coughed suddenly and it startled Tsukishima so much that he dropped his spray bottle. He bent over to pick it up, eyes still locked on the stranger, expecting him to look up, but he never did.

 _What is he working on that's so important?_ Tsukishima wondered. It wasn't like Tsukishima particularly wanted attention, pretty much ever, but this was getting ridiculous. So he took a deep breath, stood back up and walked over to his table.

“Excuse me,” Tsukishima said. “Do I-” he immediately stopped talking, because he noticed that this guy didn't look up. “Hey, excuse me?”

Nothing.

“Hey!” he said a little louder. He tapped the man's shoulder and said again. “Excuse...me?”

The man had turned and looked up to Tsukishima. He said nothing but his eyes went wide and his mouth agape. Something in Tsukishima's stomach turned a few times when the man's shock turned into a smile. Tsukishima was trying so hard to remember where he's seen him before, but came up short once again.

“Sorry to bother you,” Tsukishima said. “But do I know you?”

he got no response. The man was still smiling up until Tsukishima spoke again and he shook his head. Holding up a finger, he reached behind his computer where he had a notepad and a pen. He flipped open the top and started writing frantically.

Tsukishima scowled and crossed his arms. “Look if you don't want to talk to me just say so instead of being rude.” With no response from that either, Tsukishima felt his blood begin to boil. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the man handed him the notepad. Tsukishima saw him smile again and nudge the notepad in Tsukishima's direction. Confused, Tsukishima took the notepad and read:

_My name is Tadashi Yamaguchi. You probably don't remember me. You saved me from bullies in middle school. I always wanted to thank you, so “thank you!”_

It hit Tsukishima like a freight train. He remembered everything.

\-----------------------------

“Nya nya!!!!!”

“Stupid Tadashi!”

“Hahahaha what a _loser_!!”

Kei Tsukishima, age 13, had been walking home from school alone again. He had a paper in his hands with a poor math grade, and for most of his walk he had been grumbling about how upset his mom was going to be. His train of thought was thrown when he passed by a park and saw three boys picking on a fourth boy, who looked like he was about to cry. They were all wearing a different uniform than Tsukishima was, so he didn't recognize any of them.

“Haha what a stupid toy!” one boy, short and round, laughed. He was holding a small object that Tsukishima couldn't make out from where he was standing.

“Gonna have a hard time without this huh?” another boy, sort of tall and lanky, replied.

The third boy, who looked like he was perpetually covered in dirt yelled, “Aww poor Tadashi! What are you gonna cry again?”

Tsukishima drew his attention to the boy who had just been pushed down onto the ground. He was pretty small and was crying, tears covering the freckles that dusted his face. He propped himself back up with his hands and was trying to reach for whatever the chubby boy was holding in his fist. Being so short, it was clearly impossible for him to get. He said something very indistinguishable to the boys.

“Hahahah, what was that?!” the lanky boy said.

“Aww, Tadashi's trying to speak again!”

“Speak, Tadashi, speak!”

The boys erupted in laughter and started tossing the object between the three of them, with the third boy, Tadashi, crying in the center, helplessly chasing the object as it flew through the air. That was enough.

“Hey!” Tsukishima called out and he walked towards the group of boys.

The three boys stopped throwing the object around and turned to face Tsukishima as he walked towards them. The crying boy ran at the other boy covered in dirt, who currently had the object. He held it over his head so Tadashi couldn't reach it.

“What do you want?” the dirty looking boy asked.

“Coming to rescue Tadashi?” the lanky one added. “Hah, this loser can't even fight for himself!”

Tsukishima said nothing and continued to walk towards them. Soon he stood in front of the lanky boy, who was the tallest of the friend group. Even then, Tsukishima towered over him. Despite being in middle school, Tsukishima's height always made him look a few years older than he was.

The boys were slightly unnerved by his presence.

“Are you having _fun_?” Tsukishima sharply asked.

“Wha?” the chubby boy asked. “Of course this is fun! Picking on Tadashi is the best!”

“Tch,” Tsukishima took another step towards them. “How lame.”

The three boys narrowed their eyes at Tsukishima and approached him, forgetting Tadashi was there. Meanwhile, Tadashi just stood at watched, a little terrified of another, larger, presence.

“Who the hell are you?” the lanky one asked. He puffed out his chest to make himself look larger in comparison.

“Who cares!” the dirty one said. He cracked his knuckles and took another step forward. “I guess we'll just have to teach you a lesson too!”

The lunged forward at Tsukishima and tried to land a punch in his chest, but was stopped by Tsukishima's hand clamped onto his face. The boy grunted and tried to take a few more swings but got absolutely nowhere.

“Haha, you sure about that?” Tsukishima laughed. He released the boys face suddenly and moved to the side. He came crashing down passed Tsukishima and fell onto his face.

“Hey! Don't pick on him!” the chubby one protested.

“What's your damage!?” the lanky one added.

Tsukishima laughed again. “You guys are pathetic. You can't take half a minute of being picked on for yourselves. Come on, there's only one of me. If the three of you can't take that...well that's just embarrassing.”

The dirty looking boy stood up from where he was on the ground, looking absolutely livid. “Let's just go!” he whined. “Come on, we can finish this game tomorrow!”

The two boys ran passed Tsukishima to join their friend and glared back. “You're the one who's pathetic if you're defending this loser!” the lanky one yelled.

They started to walk away grumbling insults when Tsukishima yelled back at them. “Hold it!” the boys stopped walking and took their time to look back. Their hands were in their pockets and they were trying to look tough, as if they didn't just lose to one guy. “I think you have something of his.”

The boys laughed at Tsukishima as the lanky boy reached into his pocket to pull out the object. “Take it! It's trash anyway!” He chucked it to the ground at Tsukishima's feet and the three ran off laughing hysterically.

Tsukishima waited until they were out of site, and then he bent over to pick up the object. He expected it to be some dumb toy or a school supply. His eyes widened in shock to see what it actually was- a hearing aid. He picked it up and dusted it off a little. He turned around to the smaller boy, who was staring wide-eyed at Tsukishima. His eyes were still red from crying, and he had some dirt on his knees and elbows.

“Erm...” Tsukishima held out the hearing aid. He knew that the boy, Tadashi, wasn't going to be able to hear him, and wasn't sure what to say. But he continued anyway. “I think is yours.”

The boys eyes moved from Tsukishima and down to his hearing aid. He walked forward and took it from his hand and closely examined it. His finger moved to a switch on the side, which he frantically turned on and off. As he fidgeted with it, Tsukishima noted a little dried blood on Tadashi's left ear. _Did they RIP that off of him?_ he wondered.

With a few more clicks, Tadashi stopped and let his hands fall to his sides. His mouth began to whimper and a few tears formed in his eyes. His nose sniffled and he brought up a sleeve to wipe his nose. Tsukishima wasn't sure how to react, so he just stood there uncomfortably and watched.

“I-it's okay. Things like that can get fixed!” Tsukishima said that without thinking, since he clearly couldn't get Tadashi's attention by speaking.

Tadashi surprised Tsukishima and bowed deeply to thank him. “F-fank oo.”

Tsukishima was surprised the boy tried to say anything after the bullies treated him that way and made fun of him for speaking. But then again, Tadashi couldn't hear what they were teasing him about at that point. But just as quickly as he bowed, Tadashi stood up and turned and ran in the other direction, hopefully going home. Tsukishima watched him run until he was out of site.

Normally Tsukishima didn't really care what others were doing, and usually joined in on teasing himself. But that event haunted him in ways he didn't expect. He thought about it every day, he talked to his older brother about it, and tried to remember the uniform he wore so he could try and find his school. For the next few weeks, Tsukishima stopped at the park for about ten minutes each day. He waited to see either Tadashi, and maybe try to talk to him, or the three bullies, to give them a little more shit for what they did. But Tsukishima never saw him again.

\-----------------------------

Tsukishima felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. Of course this guy wasn't responding to him. Tadashi Yamaguchi was deaf.

 


	2. Life in Debt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima learns some more about Yamaguchi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL
> 
> thank you guys so much for the overwhelming response???? nothing i've ever written has had this much positive feedback this quickly!!! i really appreciate all the kudos, bookmarks, and comments from just one chapter! :) thank you so much!!!
> 
> one other things before you start this chapter- any description of sign language is in American Sign Language, not Japanese Sign Language. This is just cause I'm proficient in ASL and it's easier to write n yeah! If you need clarification on what signs I was describing check out handspeak.com!

Tsukishima stared at the notepad for a considerable time, re-reading what was written.

 

_My name is Tadashi Yamaguchi. You probably don't remember me. You saved me from bullies in middle school. I always wanted to thank you, so “thank you!”_

 

The second sentence rang in his head over and over again. _You probably don't remember me_. Tsukishima remembered how overwhelmed he felt by the whole event. He remembered the days he spent trying to find Yamaguchi or his bullies. And when he wasn't trying to find them, he thought about the event over and over again. And yet, he had forgotten Tadashi Yamaguchi's freckled face that had been stained with tears. Tsukishima stood wondering how he could have ever forgotten him.

Yamaguchi's hand appeared on the notepad as he gently pulled it out of Tsukishima's hands. He complied and watched as Yamaguchi quickly jotted something else down.

 

_Are you OK?_

 

Tsukishima stared at the words again. Was HE okay? After what happened all those years ago, Tsukishima wasn't expected the one to be asked if he was okay. He shook his head yes and pointed at Yamaguchi's pen in hand. Yamaguchi smiled and handed the pen over, and then pointed at the chair across the table from him.

“Oh I-” Tsukishima stopped speaking and nearly kicked himself. It was an obvious force of habit. He snapped back to reality and realized he was still working. He turned around and saw Asahi walking back to the front counter. He leaned over to Suga and said something, which caused Suga to smile broadly and turn his attention over to Tsukishima. He gave him a wave to come over. Tsukishima nodded and quickly jotted on the notepad: _I'll be right back._

Yamaguchi took the notepad, read it, and smiled at Tsukishima. And his stomach backflipped again.

He walked over to the counter where Suga and Asahi were waiting for him. The next customer in line was standing a little ways away, still deciding what to order.

“You can take your lunch break early if you want,” Suga said before Tsukishima stopped walking.

“Huh? Right now?” Tsukishima asked. He looked over to the long line of customers. “It's still busy.”

Suga shrugged. “All you're doing is helping Daichi in the kitchen. It's still early so we have enough of everything. The red velvets running out was just us forgetting to prep them when we got here.”

“Did you figure out where you know him from?” Asahi asked. “I was trying to eavesdrop-”

“He's deaf,” Tsukishima told him. Suga and Asahi exchanged surprised looks. “So I mean, keep that up if you want.”

Suga peered over to where Yamaguchi was sitting. “So did you end up knowing him?”

Tsukshima nodded. “We met when we were thirteen for about five minutes. He was getting picked on and-”

“By you?” a voice rang from the kitchen. Daichi popped his head out to join the conversation. “What? No!” Tsukishima protested. “There were a couple of kids from his school who stole his hearing aid on a playground and for christ's sake will you all stop looking at him? I said he's deaf not blind.”

Asahi, Suga, and Daichi had been staring passed Tsukishima as he spoke, and directed their attention right at Yamaguchi. Fortunately for Tsukishima when he turned back to check, Yamaguchi didn't seem to notice. He was just typing away, patiently waiting for Tsukishima to return.

“Go ahead on your break,” Daichi nudged Tsukishima's arm. He smiled and gave a subtle thumbs up.

“What?” Tsukishima quetstioned.

“Oh! Wait, take some of these,” Suga turned around to the counter and pulled out two chocolate cupcakes. He smiled at the customers who were still making a decision, and then placed the two sweets onto a yellow plate. He turned and put them on the counter. “On the house!”

“Umm, thanks?” Tsukishima said.

“Why are you acting so confused?” Asahi asked thim.

“Acting?” Tsukishima said back.”I don't really understand why you three are making such a big deal out of nothing.”

“Tsukki,” Suga began to say in a sing-song voice, leaning over the counter with a sly smile. “When's the last time you had a date?”

Tsukishima's eyes narrowed. “Wow okay first of all-”

“Oh, remember Suga, he doesn't like being called Tsukki. Let me ask him,” Daichi interrupted. He slung an arm over Suga's shoulder and looked at Tsukishima with an equally crafty smile. “So tell us, cream puff, when's the last time you had a date?”

Tsukishima's face turned beet red. He wanted to say something to defend himself, and also say something to tell Daichi off for using that dumb nickname again, but he was so flustered that the only thing he could get himself to do is prop his glasses back up his nose.

“...study dates don't count,” Asahi mumbled out quickly. Suga and Daichi both let out a laugh that they tried very hard to conceal from Tsukishima. Suga even had to turn and press his face into Daichi's chest. Asahi desperately tried to avoid eye contact since Tsukishima almost snapped his neck to send a death stare his way.

“Anyway,” Daichi added in to ease the tension. He lifted a finger and slid the plate closer to Tsukishima. “Go take your lunch break. That's an order!”

Tsukishima scowled, picked up the tray, and walked away from his co-workers. He thought about how it was probably a good thing Yamaguchi was deaf, so he couldn't hear the ridiculous laughter and high-fiving behind them. He came back to the table and pulled out the chair across from Yamaguchi, setting the cupcakes between them. Yamaguchi smiled at his return and then pointed to the cupcakes, looking slightly puzzled. Tsukishima reached for the notepad that was still behind the laptop. He jotted down a note and gave it back to Yamaguchi.

 

_My boss says these are on the house._

 

Yamaguchi smiled at the note and wrote below it. _That's really sweet!!!! What flavor are they?_

 

 _Chocolate with strawberry jam,_ Tsukishima wrote.

 

When Yamaguchi finished reading, he happily picked up a cupcake and bit into it. Tsukishima couldn't lie, Suga and Daichi's cupcakes were good. But watching Yamaguchi's reaction to the taste was something else. His eyes lit up like they had stars in them, and he had the biggest grin on his face. Tsukishima hesitantly picked up the other cupcake and bit into it, still watching Yamaguchi's overreaction as he wrote on the notepad.

 

 _Wow! This is incredible!_ the note read.

 

Tsukishima saw Yamaguchi watching him, so he just shrugged in response. Yamaguchi slid the notepad in his direction, encouraging him to write something down. Tsukishima cocked his head. He took the pen anyway and tried to think of something to write down.

 

_I'm just used to them._

 

Yamaguchi took the notepad back and nodded in response. His whole body flinched suddenly, realizing he forgot something as he quickly scribbled onto the notepad.

 

_I never asked you for your name!_

 

 _Kei Tsukishima._ He wrote back. He slid the notepad towards Yamaguchi, expecting him to write something in response, but instead he put down his cupcake and lifted his hands close to his chest. Right over left, Yamaguchi slid his palms against each other, the right hand moving passed and off of the other. He brought his fingers on both hands to his thumb, except for the pointer fingers, which extended outward. Right over left again, he pressed the heel of his wrists against each other.

Tsukishima stared blankly at him as a response. Yamaguchi smiled and audibly chuckled a little bit, sending another sensation into Tsukishima's stomach. He picked up the notepad.

 

 _I said, “it's nice to meet you!”_ Yamaguchi wrote.

 

“Oh,” Tsukishima said. He nodded back to Yamaguchi to return the sentiment, but that wasn't enough apparently. Yamaguchi pointed a finger to him, as if to say “now you try.” Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at his hands, and repeated the motions as he remembered them. Right hand over left, he slid his palms together. He paused and looked up at Yamaguchi for confirmation. Yamaguchi gave him a double thumbs up and smiled. Now the second part. Tsukishima pressed his ring and pinky fingers to his thumbs, and then tapped his wrists together with the other two fingers out-stretched.

Yamaguchi's face reddened as he tried to stifle a laugh, but failed miserably. He crossed his arms in front of him to make a large X, denoting that Tsukishima signed the wrong thing. Tsukishima stared unamused at Yamaguchi. He took the note pad, wrote down “how could it have been that bad?” and handed it to him.

Yamaguchi shook his head, keeping a big grin on his face. He jotted something down and slid it back to Tsukishima, whose face immediately fell and turned a deeper shade of red.

 

_You said: “nice to fuck you” !!!!_

 

“Shit sorry I mean, sorry, ugh, shit,” Tsukishima groaned. It was instinct of course that he would respond by talking.

Yamaguchi laughed at Tsukishima's flustered response. He lifted his hands and slowly repeated the motions of the sign. He did them in two parts so Tsukishima could learn them correctly. Once he finally signed them the right way, Yamaguchi raised both hands with the palms facing each other, and shook them at the wrists. This was received by Tsukishima with another confused response.

 

 _It's the sign for applause!_ Yamaguchi wrote down.

 

Tsukishima took the notepad. _Thanks._

 

Yamaguchi took that opportunity to teach him another sign. He pressed the tip of his right middle finger to his chin, all fingers touching each other, and then propelled his hand forward and downward from his body. He lifted a finger afterwards, pointed to the word 'thanks' and repeated the motion. Tsukishima nodded and signed it as well, getting another happy applause sign from Yamaguchi.

At this point, Tsukishima took the opportunity to ask Yamaguchi something he had been wondering since talking with him. He scribbled something down on the notepad and handed it back to Yamaguchi.

 

_Do you not wear a hearing aid anymore?_

 

Yamaguchi shook his head and took the pen from Tsukishima. _No. I only used it when I went to that school. After those kids broke it, my parents transferred me to a Deaf school._

 

_Were you the only deaf kid at your first school?_

 

_Yes. It was a school with smaller classes so my parents thought I'd do better. The Deaf school is pretty far from where my parents lived, so it was initially inconvenient. But the bullying got so bad that I needed to transfer._

 

_How often were you bullied?_

 

_Everyday._

 

That word stung Tsukishima hard. He already knew the answer to his next question, but he asked it anyway. _Why?_

 

_Because I'm deaf._

 

Of course, was what Tsukishima thought. Everyday. Tadashi Yamaguchi was bullied every day for who knows how long because he was deaf. Even Tsukishima, who rarely censored himself when it came to teasing, wouldn't go so far as to pick on someone because of a personal reason like that.

 

 _I'm sorry,_ was the only thing Tsukishima managed to write down.

 

Yamaguchi reached to read the notepad and shook his head 'no' with a smile. He took his time to write down his response.

 

_Don't be!!! It was a bad experience, but I've grown so much from it. Because it happened, I got to go to a better school for myself and learned a lot more than I ever knew about the Deaf Community. Plus I learned way more sign language than I would have at night classes. I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't shown up that day. Maybe this is extreme, but my life the way it is today is in debt to you._

 

Tsukishima re-read his words a couple of times. Did he really have that much of an impact? Was a five minute intervention worth that much? He tapped the pen on the notepad waiting to come up with something to write. What could he possibly say to that? 'You're welcome' was his initial thought. Tsukishima didn't get a chance to think about it much longer than that. The table vibrated and Yamaguchi picked up his phone to the left of his laptop. After typing a quick response he reached for the notepad, which Tsukishima happily let go of.

 

_Sorry, that was maybe too much! I have to go to a study group right now, but can I come back tomorrow? When is your break? I can treat you to coffee as a thank you!_

 

_I work 9-4. And don't worry about it._

 

_I'll be here at noon!!!_

 

Yamaguchi flipped the notepad and his computer closed and packed up his bag. He smiled to Tsukishima and waved good-bye. Tsukishima nodded back and watched him until he left the store.

Tsukishima let out a deep breath and turned to walk back to the counter. “So that happened...” he muttered to himself.

“So how was your date?”

Tsukishima had been bombarded as soon he was within speaking distance of his boss.

“What?” was his only response.

Suga smiled and waves his hand back and forth as to dismiss his comment. “Don't mind, just teasing you!”

“He seemed really happy to see you though,” Daichi commented. The massive line of people had dispersed into the main dining room, so the lag allowed the three boys to linger by the counter.

“I guess,” Tsukishima responded. Of course Yamaguchi was happy to see him. He just told Tsukki that he saved his life.

“When are you hanging out next?” Asahi chimed in.

“Tomorrow he's coming back around noon-”

“Oooh, date number two!” Suga yelled a little too loudly for Tsukishima's taste.

“Shut up,” Tsukishima muttered. He turned to try and exit the conversation by walking back into the kitchen.

“You're blushing!” Daichi hollered at him as he walked away.

Tsukishima pressed a hand to his cheek. Was he feeling hotter? He knew his pulse was up for sure, thanks to his co-workers.

“No response tells us you're blushing!” Daichi called again.

“Something's burning,” Tsukishima calmly yelled from the kitchen. As soon as Daichi called back a second time, Tsukishima snapped out of his thoughts and realized something smelled crispy.

“Shit!” Daichi ran back into the kitchen instantaneously.

“Daichi, you said you set a timer!” Suga called after him.

“How can you be so calm sounding with a fire?!” Asahi yelled panically.

 

* * *

 

Tsukishima aggressively tapped his pen against his homework. Music was blaring from his laptop on his bed as he hunched over the desk in his dorm room. As much as he hated his eccentric first year roommate, he sometimes missed the company. It taught him to block out absolutely everything in the proximity and get his work down quickly.

He wondered if Yamaguchi had a roommate. Would he be deaf too? Could Yamaguchi communicate well?

“AUGH!” Tsukishima groaned and leaned back into his chair. He threw his glasses onto the desk and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

It bothered him that he was so fixated on Yamaguchi. It wasn't a normal interest either, it was concern. The only noticeable difference in Yamaguchi was his height and build. His face still weirdly had a permanent worried look on it, and his freckles made him appear child-like an innocent. All he could think about was when he looked at Yamaguchi was the small thirteen year old version of him sobbing in a park with a broken hearing aid.

Tsukishima reached for any notebook and flipped it open to a blank page. He needed to get the image of a sad, pathetic, and broken Yamaguchi out of his head. He felt a weird tenseness in his stomach from associating the person he met today with the one he knew when he was thirteen. He didn't want to feel concerned for Yamaguchi. He didn't want to feel like he had to protect him again. And most of all, there was a fear in the back of his head creeping up that when Yamaguchi's imagine of Tsukishima was inevitably ruined by, well, the reality that he was kind of a dick, that Yamaguchi wouldn't want anything to do with him. He wanted to separate the two Yamaguchi's, so he started writing down every question that came to mind that he wanted to ask about the new one.

 

_Did you like your new school?_

_Did you ever come to that park again?_

_Did those bullies every bother you again?_

_What was the new school like?_

_Did you join any clubs?_

_Are you in clubs now?_

_What were you writing yesterday?_

_Why did you come to the cafe?_

_What classes are you taking?_

 

His thought process was stopped when his phone chirped from across the room. Tsukishima stood and walked over to grab it and swiped it open. He scowled.

 

[From: Yu Nishinoya]

yo!!!! asahi tells me u met a cute guy at werk today!! lemme know if you want me n ryu to set up a nice table for ya! mayb get in a lil serenade! I'm thinkin a lil lady and the tramp!! thoughts?? ;)

 

[To: Yu Nishinoya]

Lose this number.

 

[From :Yu Nishinoya]

Ok ok! I'll think of more ideas!!! i'll send u good vibes tomrrw

 

[To: Yu Nishinoya]

Please don't.

 

[From: Yu Nishinoya]

>:P

 

[From: Yu Nishinoya]

wait which??? don't think of new ideas or don't send you good vibes??

 

[To: Yu Nishinoya]

Don't to either. Especially the thinking. You'll strain yourself.

 

[From: Yu Nishinoya]

:O

 

Tsukishima went back to his desk and closed the notebook. There was no way he could exert anymore energy on homework. Instead, he changed into pajamas and crawled into bed, only a little more excited for work than usual. It wasn't that hard to be more excited, seeing as his baseline for excitement stayed at about a zero.

He woke up around eight that morning, a little later than usual. It only took him twenty minutes to walk from his dorm to work, but he scurried to shower and get changed. When the clock his 8:30 he left his room and began the walk. He pulled his headphones overhead and put his phone on shuffle. He lazily walked to work like normal, yawning every now and then double checking the time on his watch. By the time he strolled into work it was three minutes till nine.

“Good morning,” Tsukishima said as he walked into the store. Daichi and Suga smiled and wave like they always did, but Asahi looked more nervous than usual.

“G-good morning!”

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Nothing!!”

“You're acting weird. Why?”

“Umm...just sorry about Noya texting you. I mentioned it off-hand and didn't think-”

“Oh, is that all?” Tsukishima asked. He waved his hand. “I don't really care so long as he doesn't do anything stupid. He and Tanaka are the kinds of idiots that might...” he trailed off because the next thing he was going to say was: 'startle Yamaguchi.' He felt like a worried parent. It wasn't even nine in the morning and Tsukishima was already disgusted.

“Yeah well about that...” Asahi trailed off as the bell to the front door jingled and two boys walked through the front. “S-sorry.”

“Good morning!!! We are here and ready for action!!”

“Have no fear, your wing men are here!”

Tsukishima turned around and stared horrified at Ryu Tanaka and Yu Nishinoya. They stood there looking like champions home from battle as if Tsukishima had been waiting for them for hours. He said nothing to either of them and turned to stare at Asahi. “Why?”

“It was an accident! I tried to convince them not to but-”

“Hey!” Noya yelled as he appeared in front of Tsukishima and Asahi. He placed a firm hand on Asahi's shoulder and good a squeal in response. “If you have a problem, take it up with the management!”

Tsukishima snickered. “Are you trying to be intimidating? Come back when gravity's a little nicer to you.”

“Oi!” Tanaka called from behind. “We're doing this outta the goodness of our hearts! When we heard you got a date we had to come-”

“It's NOT a date.”

“Tsukishima! Asahi!”

The foursome turned to face Daichi, who had a twisted mixture of disappointed and resentment written all over his darkened, brooding face.

“AHH!” Asahi shrieked. He stood up quickly, grabbed Tsukishima by the arm and led both of them into the kitchen at an alarmingly fast pace.

Tanaka and Nishinoya were left with all energy and expression sucked out of their bodies as Daichi stared them down menacingly.

“You two are technically here before business hours, so stop harassing the staff while they have work to do.”

“Yes sir,” they said in unison, still petrified.

“While you wait!” Saga called form the register right and he finished the first drawer count. “I heard from Asahi that you both have an exam tomorrow that you haven't started studying for yet!”

“Hng!” They both clenched their chests, clearly both forgetting about the exam.

“I'm sure if you put your best foot forward you'll be fine! Otherwise you may have to re-take this history class. Again.”

Tanaka and Nishinoya instantly ran yelling out of the store, complaining about their exam and futures. The morning was boring and slow after the whirlwind had left. Tsukishima and Daichi prepped and baked all the supplies they would need for the day, while Suga and Asahi did a clean up of the dining room and display cases. About an hour into the shift, Tanaka and Nishinoya returned, considerably calmer, with books and coffee and made residence at one of the biggest tables.

The next few hours crawled by as customers slowly made their way into the store. A couple other students came to join Tanaka and Noya at their table, and other students of the university did the same at their own tables. Such was the norm for a Sunday at Stud Muffin it seemed. It was nice for the staff, since there was much less stress from fewer customers, and the ones who did complain were complaining about school or something else. It was a nice change in atmosphere for Tsukishima especially, who was all over the place that morning. Tanaka and Nishinoya being there put him on edge, and the anticipation for his lunch break and absolutely no other reason kept coming back to make his stomach flip. Just as he felt himself settle down into a nice pace, Suga called from the front.

“Tsukishima! Come here a sec?”

Tsukishima tossed aside a rag he used to wipe his hands clean and looked at the time on his watch. 12:03. He inhaled sharply and proceeded to quickly and calmly walk to the front and saw his worst nightmare. Tadashi Yamaguchi stood at the front of the line and smiled happily at Tsukishima, who waved back in response. That wasn't his nightmare, that was much better. What _was_ his nightmare, were the two self proclaimed wing men who stood directly behind Yamaguchi in line, giving thumbs ups and “OK” hand shapes to Tsukishima.

“I tried to get them to back off,” Suga whispered to Tsukishima.

“You can't get rid of us!” Nishinoya called.

“Yep! Just like the black plague,” Tanaka said proudly. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Which was in Europe from 1346 to 1353, according to our book,”

“Nice Tanaka!” Noya complimented.

“We too are an epidemic that you can't get rid of!”

“I'd like to get hit with that right about now,” Tsukishima muttered to himself. Lucky for him, Yamaguchi stood without a single movement and just kept on smiling.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> signing "nice to fuck you" was a real life thing i did once to my TA on like the second day of class


	3. Win and Fail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima and Yamaguchi continue to get to know each other, and then Tsukki hecks up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long to update!! i hope you guys like this chapter, because I really do! :) I really want to reply to all the nice comments you guys left me even though it's like a couple of weeks behind haha

 

_Your friends seem nice!_

 

Tsukishima read the note as he tapped his pen on the pad. He turned to look at the table across the cafe where Tanaka and Nishinoya sat snickering behind their books. He scowled at them and they replied with devious grins. Fortunately for Tsukishima, Ennoshita was there to aggressively turn the attention back to studying, by literally pushing Tanaka and Noya's heads into the spines of their books.

“Shit, Chikara! We're reading I swear!” Tanaka protested.

“We were observing a wild animal in a strange new environment! Isn't that technically science?” Noya chimed in.

“Dude I just said we were reading! You gotta back me up!”

“Oh right! We were reading!!!” Noya exclaimed in agreement, albeit a little late.

“How did you two make it to college?” Ennoshita asked. “If you guys have to repeat this class again I won't help you. And Nishinoya, this is history, not science. At least keep your excuses consistent.”

Tsukishima turned to the notepad as groans of protest echoed from the other side of the cafe. Lucky for him, Ennoshita was talented in keeping Tanaka and Noya under control, especially when it came to school.

 

_They're exhausting._

 

 _They do seem pretty high energy,_ Yamaguchi wrote back. _How did you meet them?_

 

_My first year roommate met them in a class, and my co-workers also knew them. I ended up being friends with them by default._

 

_What are their names?_

 

_The bald guy is Ryunosuke Tanaka. The one that's about 5ft-nothing is Yuu Nishinoya._

 

_Well everyone's short compared to you!!!_

 

Tsukishima took the notepad and thought back to some of the questions he wrote down the night before. He wasn't sure how to segway the conversation, but the last thing he ever wanted to do was talk about Tanaka or Noya. Would it be too weird to just ask something out of the blue? Tsukishima grumbled. He didn't like this feeling of doubt and being unsure on what to do. He felt a little pathetic that this essential stranger was affecting him like this. Whatever, it's just small talk.

 

_Why did you come to the cafe?_

 

Yamaguchi laughed and wrote down his response below.

 

_Someone told me there were cute guys here!_

 

Tsukishima's face reddened instinctively, but his face deadpanned Yamaguchi, not believing him for a second.

 

 _Just kidding~!_ Yamaguchi scribbled underneath, laughing to himself. _I actually just stumbled across this place yesterday. But I mentioned it to a friend, and everyone DOES say the employees are cute here!_

 

Tsukishima just continued to deadpan Yamaguchi, who laughed again at the lack of response. He nudged the paper over to Tsukishima, encouraging him to say something.

 

 _Thanks?_ Was all Tsukishima could think of to write down.

 

Yamaguchi shook his head. He pointed to the word and then to Tsukishima, who replied with a face that was tired and slightly scrunched, as if to say “really?” Yamaguchi didn't let up and refused to lift his finger off the word.

Tsukishima sighed, thought for a second, and then signed, _Thanks._

 _No,_ Yamaguchi signed in response.

 _Yes,_ Tsukishima replied after a brief pause, nodding his right fist as he was taught.

Yamaguchi laughed again and wrote down a slightly longer explanation.

 

_Your face is too stiff!! You can't deadpan when you sign. Facial expression is very important in sign language! Think of it as grammar!_

 

 _Grammar? How?_ Tsukishima wrote back.

 

_Well, you wrote “thanks” with a question mark. I'm guessing that's to indicate confusion, maybe? If so, then you have to actually look confused! You looked kinda pissed off just now..._

 

_I'm not pissed. That's just my face._

 

 _Well fix it!!!! Try again!!!_ Yamaguchi wrote back.

 

Tsukishima softened his face from the semi-glare he just shot at Yamaguchi. He had to think of how to look confused, something he'd never consciously have to do before. The end result was his face looking horrifyingly twisted and painful.

Yamaguchi covered his mouth with his hand and looked deeply concerned. But that look from Yamaguchi was enough to actually confuse Tsukishima, and once he noticed that, Yamaguchi aggressively pointed and then flung his hands forward and grabbed Tsukishima's face, as if trying to hold the expression in place.

“Stop that,” Tsukishima said aloud. His words were slightly muffled from Yamaguchi's hands. “What are-”

Yamaguchi removed his hands and jotted something down for Tsukishima to read.

 

_That!!! That was you looking confused!! Don't overthink it, just let your face react like it normally would!_

 

Tsukishima sighed again and knew that Yamaguchi was waiting for him to try signing it once more. He moved the muscles in his face, still warm from Yamaguchi's touch, and signed, _Thanks?_

Yamaguchi beamed with pride and gave Tsukishima a double thumbs up. Tsukishima couldn't help but smile softly, seeing how enthusiastic Yamaguchi was being. A moment later, Yamaguchi scribbled something else down and passed it over to Tsukishima.

 

_I almost forgot! I want to show you my name sign!_

 

Tsukishima pointed to the words “name sign” and looked up at Yamaguchi, who signed two motions back to him.

 

 _My name sign,_ Yamaguchi signed. He took his right hand into a fist and folded his index finger over his thumb. He tapped the knuckle of his index finger to his cheek. _Tadashi._

Tsukishima watched him repeat the sign again, and then did it himself. After a second of thinking, Tsukishima signed back, _Why?_

Yamaguchi smiled and held up the right hand shape again. With his other hand, he wrote down the letter “T” on the notepad. Tsukishima nodded once he understood- T for Tadashi. Then, Yamaguchi used both pointer fingers to poke the freckles on his face.

Tsukishima signed the name back to him and Yamaguchi nodded with a smile. _What's my name sign?_ Tsukishima signed back slowly. He felt kind of proud, remembering the sign for 'my' and 'what,' that Yamaguchi taught him, and then adding in the new sign he learned.

Instead of showing him a sign, Yamaguchi took the notepad back and wrote something down. He turned it around to show Tsukishima.

 

_If you don't know what yours is, you don't have one!! It's not a sign for each name, its a sign for the person, and it's something about that person that inspires the sign! My first ASL teacher gave me my name sign because of my freckles. Her name is Li, and her name sign is an L moving down her jawline because of the bobbed haircut she always has._

 

Tsukishima thought for a moment, wondering if what he was going to ask was appropriate or not. But that never stopped him before so we wrote it down anyway.

 

_Would you give me a name sign?_

 

 _Eventually, sure! It makes me happy you ask that._ Yamaguchi wrote back.

 

 _Why?_ Tsukishima wrote down.

 

Yamaguchi smiled wide and continues writing. _A Deaf person is who gives you a name sign. And it typically happens once you spend a lot of time in the Deaf Community. So it makes me happy you want a name sign...even if you don't understand why it does. I want us to be friends._

 

Tsukishima looked back up at Yamaguchi, surprised that he said he wanted to be friends. He'd never been asked so explicitly before. Usually friends just kind of happened because of his environment, but it still took time for Tsukishima to actually consider someone a friend. Granted they did have a past that maybe predisposed them to being friends one day, they met yesterday and probably talked for less than two hours overall.

He had never been like Suga, who naturally attracted people by his presence alone. Or like Asahi, who was almost too kind for his own good. And he certainly wasn't like Daichi, who cared more for his friends than he probably did about himself. In general, Tsukishima had always been alone by choice. He had friends, but they weren't necessarily close. He said Nishinoya and Tanaka were his friends, but he knew he didn't want to be that kind of friend to Yamaguchi. He was probably closest to Daichi, but even then, Tsukishima refused to open up to him.

But if someone like Yamaguchi wanted to be his friend, maybe opening up and making close friends was worth it.

 

 

\---

 

For the rest of the week, Yamaguchi showed up anywhere between 12-1pm to join Tsukishima on his lunch break. Tsukishima found the conversations coming easier, especially with Yamaguchi having so much to say. This was great, since Tsukishima was starting to feel like he was playing 20 questions. Yamaguchi would teach Tsukishima a couple of signs now and then and would playfully test him the following day, much to Tsukishima's annoyance.

Everything was going pretty smooth between the two. Tsukishima even noticed how easy it it was to talk to Yamaguchi, considering how challenging it was for Tsukishima to really make or keep friends.

Then Friday came along. Yamaguchi came into the shop looking defeated and tired. He asked Tsukishima if he could vent and proceeded to tell him how stressful his previous class had been.

 

_I'm in an art history class that's primarily written notes from a powerpoint with side stories sometimes. I have an interpreter that comes to the class with me, but she had a family emergency and couldn't come today. I emailed the professor to let him know and he said that we'd be watching a movie and that he planned to put subtitles on, so I would be fine. Well, at the last minute an author friend of his offered to do a lecture on a topic we were covering. He had no notes and I had no interpreter, so I missed an entire lecture from a really important person!!! When I went to see the professor after class, he just got frustrated with me and how long it was taking me to write, and told me that he wasn't going to cancel a lecture just for me. That wasn't what I was suggesting!!! I would have requested a notetaker or another interpreter if I had known!! But he somehow blamed me!! I probably looked like I was about to cry, because he just shook his head and left the room abruptly._

 

Tsukishima was caught between a couple of responses. First was “of course he left. You look like a kicked puppy when you cry.” Second was “what a jackass.” And finally, the one he went with, which was simply “that sucks.”

Yamaguchi frowned at the response and Tsukishima wondered if he should've said something more personal. Before he could doubt himself further, Yamaguchi slid the notepad back.

 

_Yeah, it does. It happens more often than I'd like it too. I mean the impatience of people- not me crying!!! LOL!_

 

Tsukishima stared blankly. Did Yamaguchi really just cracked a joke after talking about basically being bullied again? Yamaguchi smiled and stuck out his tongue playfully. Yeah, he did.

Tsukishima knew they weren't close enough for him to joke back about something like that, even though a few days prior Yamaguchi expressed his desire to be friends. So instead of just moving on, he made the whole conversation turn serious, and a whole lot worse.

 

_I guess not every knows how to interact with someone with a disability._

 

Yamaguchi frowned again, but not like before where he made fun of himself. This was disappointment. His face became cold, and his arms hung limp by his sides. It was a new type of sadness Tsukishima got to see on his face. He didn't at all care for it. It made his whole body tense up and send his mind into overdrive. Once again, Tadashi Yamaguchi was getting to him.

 

 _It can be frustrating sometimes, yeah,_ Yamaguchi finally wrote after a few moments of thinking. _But...I'm not disabled. Please don't call me that._

 

Tsukishima didn't say anything, write anything, or even move. This wasn't a funny jab or insult he said to rile someone up. This was different. It was affecting Yamaguchi differently in a way Tsukishima wasn't used to seeing on anyone. Yamaguchi cocked his head when Tsukishima didn't respond, and took the notepad back.

 

_You look confused._

 

Tsukishima looked up and saw Yamaguchi looking worried. Worried. Tsukishima was certain he just severely offended Yamaguchi, and actually felt bad about it, but Yamaguchi sat looking worried about him. It weirdly infuriated Tsukishima that Yamaguchi was reacting that way. Didn't he deserve to be mad? Why wasn't he mad? Tsukishima just nodded gently and watched as Yamaguchi scribbled quickly on the notepad.

 

_I guess traditionally everyone might say deaf people are disabled. But the Deaf Community doesn't agree with that. We don't consider ourselves disabled. We can't hear, but that doesn't stop us from living. It's just like meeting someone who speaks a different language._

 

Tsukishima finished reading and glanced up at Yamaguchi. He still looked slightly unnerved. The only thing Tsukishima could think of to do was apologize, but as he lifted his hand to sign the word, Yamaguchi's phone vibrated on the table. Yamguchi glanced at the message on the phone. He stood without signing or writing a word and began to pack up his things in a hurry. He grabbed the notepad and scribbled something down before giving Tsukishima half a wave and running out the door.

 

_I'm sry but I have 2 go. See u l8r_

 

Maybe Tsukishima was wrong, maybe Yamaguchi was mad after all.

And at first, Tsukishima didn't think too much of it. He knew he said something that offended Yamaguchi, and he was rightfully upset. He stood up to return to work, already thinking about what to say to him tomorrow. He'd give him a proper apology, something practically unheard of for him to do, and maybe buy him a desert for good measure. He wondered if that was overkill. Is that was friends did? He'd ask Daichi for advice later, maybe.

The following day, Yamaguchi didn't show up for lunch. Tsukishima wasn't surprised, and didn't make much of it. When Suga asked where he was, Tsukishima made up something about Yamaguchi feeling sick, so he wouldn't have to talk about it. When it happened the second day in a row, Tsukishima was still fine. It wasn't until the fourth day came and went that Tsukishima figured Yamaguchi was never coming back.

Tsukishima had been taking his lunch breaks consistently at 12:30 each day, just in case Yamaguchi showed up. On the fourth day, Tsukishima worked all day with no break, and didn't even notice until 4pm when Daichi came to see him.

“Hey,” Daichi said, walking into the dining room. He wiped his hands dry with a towel and slung it over his shoulder. Tsukishima barely glanced up from sweeping the floor. “You didn't take your lunch today.”

“I didn't?”

Daichi sighed. “When is that friend of yours coming back?”

Tsukishima shrugged. “Don't know. Maybe never.”

“What? Why, what happened?” Daichi asked him.

“I pissed him off, I think.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Daichi took a few steps forward and grabbed the broom with one hand, stopping Tsukishima from working. “What happened? You guys seemed to be getting along.”

“It's nothing,” Tsukishima said sternly.

“You're upset.”

“I'm not-”

“Yes you are,” Daichi told him. “I don't think I've ever seen you upset about anything. Pissed off or annoyed, sure, but never upset.”

Tsukishima sighed and leaned the broom against the table. He stuffed his hands into his apron and looked sheepishly at Daichi. “I called him disabled. Apparently it's really insulting to tell a deaf person that.”

Daichi blinked a few times and shook his head. “Tsukishima...that's not something you say to anyone.” he sighed. “If it upset him, did you apologize?”

“Can you turn off dad-mode, please?” Tsukishima asked slyly. Daichi just stared him down, refusing to budge on his approach. Tsukishima sighed again, heavier this time. “I was about to, but he up and left the store before I hand the chance. I was planning on saying something when he came back the next day, but he never did.”

“Did you text him?”

“Huh?” Tsukishima asked. “No-”

“If you feel this bad about it, text him and say you're sorry, and ask him to come back,” Daichi said. “You seem different when you're around him. I know you guys just met but Suga and Asahi noticed too. Something's different. In a good way of course! Please don't just let him go and chalk it up to him thinking you're an asshole. Well...he'd be right but-”

“No I...” Tsukishima said. “I don't have his number. I can't text him.”

There was an uncomfortably long pause of silence where Tsukishima momentarily wondered if he was now deaf as well. Daichi's expression was unreadable and it was like an aura of coldness radiated out of his entire being. Suga and Asahi, who stood by the cash register, noticed it too. They stopped sweeping and turned to watch Daichi have what seemed to be an internal meltdown.

“Dai?” Suga called gently from the counter. “Is everything okay, babe?”

“Suga...” Daichi trailed off. He turned around to face the counter with an expression that probably would have murdered Asahi had it been directed at him. “Tsukishima just told me he doesn't have Yamaguchi's phone number.”

“Yama...Tsukki!?” Suga yelled. He threw the broom he'd been holding to the side and hopped over the counter in one swift movement. He stormed up to Tsukishima and whacked him on the head, throwing his glasses off kilter. “You've been having lunch with Yamaguchi for what, a week straight?! You don't have his number yet?!”

Tsukishima propped his glasses back up onto his nose and carefully chose his next words strategically. Daichi was scary, defiantly, but for a couple of reasons, Tsukishima was much more frightened of Sugawara. “He...never offered it.”

“So you didn't even ask?”

“No?”

“Do you know how long it took me to ask Daichi for his number when we first met?”

“No. Why does that-”

“About five minutes! Do you know how long it look Nishinoya to give Asahi his number?!”

“I don't care-”

“He stole Asahi's phone and plugged in his number himself!” Suga yelled. “He even gave himself an emoji to remind Asahi of how important he was!!”

“I-”

“Shhhhhh,” Suga put a finger on Tsukishima's mouth. If Tsukishima thought dad-mode-Daichi was bad, mom-mode-Suga was ten times worse. “You two have been hitting it off and flirting all week and I'll have you know I am personally offended that you haven't been texting him.”

“I haven't been flirting?” Tsukishima asked, sounding mildly annoyed and offended.

“Maybe you haven't,” Daichi chimed in. “But, I don't know, it seems like Yamaguchi has been. The way he looks at you is...it's something.”

“I can't believe you haven't been picking up on that,” Suga took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. He took a long sigh before speaking again. “So what are you going to do?”

Tsukishima looked back and forth at them, feeling very overwhelmed and very lectured. “I...don't know.”

“Don't think just answer me,” Daichi said. “Do you want to see him again, yes or no?”

Tsukishima nodded sheepishly, his face reddening ever so slightly. “Yes. At the very least to apologize.”

“By god he has a heart!” Suga exclaimed while throwing his arms in the air like a cheer.

“So what's the plan?” Daichi asked. “Where do you think he'd be?”

“I might know!”

The three boys turned around to Asahi, still at the counter.

“Well, I don't know where he is exactly,” he started to say. “But our school has an ASL club. Even if he's not there, someone's bound to know him!”

“We'll finish cleaning up here,” Daichi told him as he reached over to grabbed the broom. “Go check out the club.”

“Why?” Tsukishima asked.

Daichi blinked a few times. “So you can find Yamaguchi?”

“No I mean,” Tsukishma said. “Why bother helping me find one person?”

“Hey, that's what friends are for, right?” Daichi said with a grin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tsukki no


	4. Money Where My Mouth Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima seeks out Yamaguchi to apologize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW OKAY i have no excuse for why I'm updating so late lmao sorry for who i am as a person

It wasn't until he reached campus that Tsukishima realized he had no clue where to find the clubrooms. He stepped to the side to pull up a map on his phone, and popped in his earphones to prevent people from trying to walk up to him.

It only took about thirty seconds to find where the club buildings were. “Huh,” Tsukishima muttered to himself. “So that's what those ugly buildings are...” At the edge of campus was a mossy colored two-story building with a couple dozen doors leading into club rooms. It was visible from the mathematics building where Tsukishima had his calculus class. He'd look out the window when zoning out during a lesson to observe the dozens of people with seemingly nothing in common walk into the building.

He tapped the information page for the club building, called the Ushijima Extracurricular Complex, named after some hot-shot volleyball player whose family donated a ton of money to the school. He scrolled through the list of clubs before finding the sign language club.

“UEC 12,” Tsukishima said to himself, to help remember which room it was. He tucked his phone into his pocket and continued walking through campus.

It took about five minutes to get to the club complex, which gave Tsukishima ample time to think about what he would say to Yamaguchi. He felt a pit of embarrassment in his stomach, seeking out an essential stranger to apologize for something. It was extremely out of character for him, which was maybe why he felt so off about it. He made rude jokes all the time and picked on anyone he thought was deserving, which was most people, and he never apologized. That being said, he was careful not to be too offensive to people who were older than him, Daichi, Suga, and Asahi for example. There were some exceptions for his rule. Two loudmouth 'friends,' to be exact.

Maybe it was simply because Tsukishima didn't know Yamaguchi, so he wasn't confident Yamaguchi would understand his personality. He was a weird blend of polite-rudeness.

Just saying “I'm sorry I called you disabled,” seemed like the wrong choice of words. But “I'm sorry I offended you,” sounded too condescending and un-genuine. But maybe writing it down would come off differently than saying it. Considering how last time went, he thought it himself, it probably wouldn't.

In no time he made it to the club rooms. They were tucked away behind the math building with only a couple of students mulling around. He approached one of the doors to read the number. UEC 01: Sewing Club.

Tsukishima groaned as he took the stairs up a floor. It was a stupid pet peeve of his, having the bottom floor rooms starting with 0. He shook his head. No need to mentally argue with himself about how bad of an idea that is.

As he took his last step onto the landing he took a quiet breath and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Yamaguchi could potentially be around the corner, and for whatever reason, that prospect made Tsukishima slightly nervous. He was out of his element. Not just in terms of environment, but in language.

He slowly paced himself down the corridor to read every label on every door. He was stalling. He was about a foot away from his destination and he had no idea of what he was planning on saying. But then there he was, standing in front of UEC 12: Sign Language Club.

Tsukishima instinctively raised his hand to knock on the door but then noticed a sign on the front of the door that read:

_If the door is unlocked please come right in!_

Oh. He lowered his hand, feeling idiotic. Why would anyone knock on the door of someone who couldn't hear it? He reached for the doorknob and twisted it open, feeling weird, like he was barging in on something. He pushed the door open and met the sign language club.

The room felt like more of a lounge than a “club” room. Over to the side was a couch and arm chair, and on the floor were pillows and a bean bag cushion. The back wall had a projector screen with a scenic picture of a beach, likely the desktop background of the computer to the left of it. To the right was a mini-fridge and a coffee pot with a shelf above it stacks with mugs, bowls, plates, and utensils. What did they do in this club?

There were five students total in the club room. Two girls signing to each other on the couch, two boys standing and signing next to the coffee maker, and another boy sitting on the bean bag chair intensely reading a comic book. It was almost a creepy quiet, with just the sounds of hushed breathing, mouths occasionally clicking, and a page turning.

Tsukishima stood in the doorway for probably too long, but he wasn't sure about the proper way to interject himself into conversation. Unfortunately for him he didn't have any extra time to think, because one of the girls on the couch made eye contact and waved at him politely.

It was the girl on the couch facing the doorway, so she was bound to see him right away. The other girl who was signing with her turned around and smiled. She signed something quick to Tsukishima, which obviously went over his head.

The other club members noticed he was there too and all turned to look at him. The boy on the bean bag chair only peered over his comic book for a second before returning to his reading.

Wanting to immediately end what was happening, Tsukishima quickly remembered one sign Yamaguchi showed him. He lifted his right fist into the air, folded his fingers to make a “t” and tapped the knuckle at the side of his face. _Tadashi_ , he signed.

The blond girl on the couch signed something else at him, and Tsukishima returned it with a blank stare. She cocked her head at him and signed again, this time slower. The only thing he could relatively pick out was Yamaguchi's name-sign, and the pointing, which he assumed just meant she was asking him something.

Tsukishima instinctively opened his mouth to say something but, to his surprise, was cut off by the blonde girl on the couch.

“You're hearing?” she asked him, signing along as she spoke.

“I- what?” Tsukishima stumbled to say. “You can hear me?”

She nodded.

“I thought...”

“Everyone in the club is deaf?” she said, finishing his train of thought.

“Er, yes.”

She laughed shyly, standing up from the couch and approaching him. As she got closer her face fell into a sort of anxious grin. Tall people tended to freak her out and Tsukishima was the tallest person she'd met. “S-sign language clubs aren't just for deaf people. Although most of our club is...”

“Are you the only...umm...'hearing,' person here?” Tsukishima asked, nearly struggling to remember the label she'd used a moment before.

She shook her head. “Nope. Well, today I am, but we have a few regular members who are fully hearing. I'm the only CODA though...”

“CODA?” Tsukishima repeated.

“Child of a deaf adult,” she told him. “I grew up signing because both my parents are deaf. Oh, ah!! I'm so sorry, I nearly forgot to introduce myself!! My name's Yachi Hitoka. Yachi is...” She stopped talking and lifted her right hand to the top of her head with only her thumb and pinky sticking out. She brought her hand down the side of her head, following the curve of her side pony-tail.

“Kei Tsukishima,” he responded politely. He looked passed Yachi to scan around the room. No sign of Yamaguchi anywhere. Oh well, he thought, it was probably a sign for him to forget about the whole ordeal.

“You know Tadashi?”

Tsukishima's attention was drawn to the other girl in the room, who was now standing beside Yachi.

“Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asked. The girls nodded. “Sort of. Wait, I'm sorry, Yachi? I thought you said you were the only hearing person?”

“Oh,” Yachi's face reddened. She started to say something but the words stammered a little bit.

“It's alright,” the other girl responded. “It's a common misconception. I'm hard of hearing.”

Tsukishima noticed she wore a hearing aid in each ear when she tucked her dark hair behind her ears. She spoke clearly albeit a little muffled sounding.

“Tsukishima Kei,” he introduced.

She smiled and extended her hand. “Kiyoko Shimizu.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Tsukishima replied politely. “Do you have a..er..name-sign as well?” He hesitated at the word. It was a strange new custom for him to get used to.

She nodded. She stuck out her middle and pointer finger, and then her thumb in between them. Tsukishima correctly guessed it was the letter K. Her pointer finger gently twisted itself against her beauty mark below her lips.

“Ah,” Tsukishima said. He wasn't sure what else to say, as having a polite conversation wasn’t on his agenda.

“So,” Yachi spoke up quietly. “How do you know Tadashi?”

“We just met recently,” he told them. “He visited where I work the other day.”

“Oh, you're from the cupcake shop?” Shimizu asked.

“Yeah...” Tsukishima trailed off. If they knew that, did they know about what he said to Yamaguchi?

“Tadashi's said good things about that place,” Shimizu continued. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear again. “He said it's a nice place to get work done.”

Tsukishima felt relief at the word 'nice.' Maybe he hadn't mentioned it at all. “He's been coming in a lot recently.”

Yachi smiled to Shimizu. “Maybe we'll have to join him sometime!” Shimizu nodded in agreement.

The weirdest pang hit Tsukishima's stomach. It was at the idea of Yamaguchi no longer coming to the shop alone. Not that it mattered, he told himself. He can do whatever he wants. Come, not come. Come alone, come with friends. It's never bothered Tsukishima before what other people choose to do, especially strangers. He kept reminding himself that, trying to pass off the jump in his stomach as nothing.

“Sure,” he finally said to them. “Although we do get some obnoxious loud mouths coming in. If you try to ignore them the place is half decent.” He immediately had the horrific image of Tanaka meeting Shimizu. He could be easily stunned by a pretty face, but Shimizu was in an entirely different league than most of the girls he went after. Tanaka being within breathing distance of Shimizu would be enough to send the entire store into overzealous chaos. Tsukishima thought he'd have to change jobs if that happened. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He probably would see Tanaka and Nishinoya less. Maybe he should just invite her.

“That's the wonderful thing about hearing aids,” Shimizu chuckled while tapping her device with a finger. “I can zone out whenever.”

“Ah...sure...right...” Tsukishima replied. He couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. And if she was, Tsukishima was incredibly jealous of her ability to do that.

“She's kidding,” Yachi reassured him, placing her hands up in defense as if it would help her convince him.

“Okay,” Tsukishima replied.

“I'm not,” Shimizu told them.

“O…kay,” Tsukishima said again, unsure of what was happening.

“She'd never ignore someone on purpose!!” Yachi said to him. She seemed flustered, trying to defend her friend who now looked like she was just trying to mess with her.

“I do it all the time. It's quite nice occasionally.”

“Y-you never do that to me, right Kiyoko!? Kiyoko?!” Yachi kept exclaiming to her. Shimizu was laughing gently behind her hand, failing to keep her ploy up any longer.

Tsukishima stood there uncomfortably with an astonished face trying to figure out how to get back into the conversation. Like usual, he chose the blunt way. “So...about Yamaguchi...”

“He's not here today,” Shimizu told him. Yachi was holding onto Shimizu's arm, trying to wriggle out confirmation that she wasn't ignored. She paused, red in the face, to look at Tsukishima.

“He's working on his article for the paper,” Yachi said. “He's usually by the amphitheater.”

“The paper?” Tsukishima asked.

“The school's newspaper,” Shimizu said. “It's his first big piece. He's really excited about it.”

“He's been working on it non-stop,” Yachi chimed in. She slowly peeled herself off of Shimizu's arm. “Poor Tadashi. He's so anxious about doing a good job he's nearly making himself sick!”

Tsukishima would never have pegged Yamaguchi as a writer. At first appearance, Yamaguchi looked like someone who was just stressed for a living. “Is he there now?”

“Should be,” Yachi nodded. “He left about twenty minutes ago to work on his piece.”

“Okay,” Tsukishima said. He started to turn towards the door. “Thank you for your help. Sorry to intrude on your club.”

“No problem!” Yachi told him with a huge grin. “It's never an intrusion!”

“We meet every Tuesday and Thursday from four to six. Sunday's are noon to two. But someone is usually in the room to hang out. We have postings about club events all over campus,” Shimizu told him. Tsukishima was slightly worried he gave off an impression that he was looking to join the club. Shimizu noticed his worry and smiled sweetly. “Since you're friends with Tadashi, I thought I'd just mention it. I'm the president of the club, and I'm always trying to get new people interested in us. If you ever feel like dropping in, please feel free.”

* * *

  


Tsukishima made his way over to the amphitheater. It was right outside of his freshman dormitory. There were four descending tiers of stone ledges leading down to a small fountain surrounded by four metal benches. Students were spaced out among the four levels- some reading, a handful smoking, and a smaller group strumming a few guitars.

He scanned the area until he saw the unmistakable mop of hair belonging to Tadashi Yamaguchi. He was sitting on one of the benches, feet propped up on the edge of the fountain. He was typing away furiously on his laptop with intense determination.

Tsukishima made his way down the stone stairs, accepting that he was going in with no plan, and also swallowing his pride. He felt embarrassed for himself for seeking out a stranger to apologize for a comment because normally he couldn't be bothered to apologize to his own friends. He made it to the final step and looked to Yamaguchi, who wasn't taking his eyes of the screen.

His brows were furrowed in concentration like he's forget his train of thought if he stopped for even a second. Tsukishima briefly wondered if he should come back later, but didn't have another second to think about it, for Yamaguchi's freckled face was looking up from his laptop with a nervous smile.

There was an uncomfortable silence followed by an awkward wave from Yamaguchi. Tsukishima gave a slight nod in return and pointed to the empty side of the bench. Yamaguchi nodded with a smile and placed his feet flat on the ground to allow Tsukishima to walk to the free side of the bench.

Once he sat down, there was a new awkwardness in the realization that Tsukishima had forgot to bring anything to communicate with. He slid his hands quickly into his coat pockets in the hopes he had anything- a receipt, a gum wrapper, a tissue, but he came up short. Yamaguchi seemed to notice this too, for he made a few clicks on his laptop and handed it over to Tsukishima. A blank document was opened for him to type on, but with the first line taken up by Yamaguchi's words.

_Hello! Long time no see. Sorry about running out the other day._

Tsukishima blinked twice and glared at the screen for a moment to make sure he read that correctly. At first Tsukishima felt a little relieved, it didn't appear that Yamaguchi was upset. But then a pang of annoyance hit Tsukishima quickly after. He knew he was in the wrong, yet Yamaguchi was apologizing- and for what? Abruptly leaving? He shouldn't be apologizing. Tsukishima didn't go through the trouble of finding him to get an explanation on why he walked out, which is what the apology made him feel.

Tsukishima started typing away furiously on the keyboard before turning the screen back to Yamaguchi.

_Don't apologize. And what for? I came here to apologize to you. I wasn't aware that the word 'disabled' was considered rude. My intention wasn't to offend you._

It was at that moment Tsukishima realized just how expressive Yamaguchi's facial features were. A response wasn't required for Tsukishima to understand that Yamaguchi hadn't taken offense, him walking out had nothing to do with that word, and he thought it was crazy that Tsukishima had thought that. After a glance at Tsukishima with a new face of worry, he typed away at the keyboard.

_No no no!!!!! I wasn't upset by that! The timing was just unfortunate. I mean, yeah, I don't like that word, but I figured you didn't know so I was just explaining why it was wrong to use. I had to run out all of a sudden because I got a text from the editor of the school newspaper that they wanted to publish one of my stories for the next issue. I needed to start right away!! I didn't get a chance to explain myself so I wanted to say sorry for that._

Tsukishima felt like an idiot. For one, his incorrect assumption of the situation caused him way more stress than needed. And secondly, he felt like an incredible stalker for finding where Yamaguchi was when it was absolutely not necessary. He stared at the response, not sure what to write in return. He kept thinking about how this whole situation could have been avoided. So he wrote down the first thing that came to mind. And before he had a chance to erase it, because it felt silly, Yamaguchi had already been reading over his shoulder.

_This would have been a lot less confusing for the both of us if we had exchanged numbers._

Tsukishima quickly looked to Yamaguchi once he noticed the response had been read. His face was slightly flushed and his eyes were widened more than usual. Then he turned to Tsukishima and smiled sweetly, his face lighting up from more than embarrassment. Yamaguchi reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, made a couple of clicks, and handed it to Tsukishima.

Then Tsukishima felt his own face get flushed. He looked down at the 'new contact' screen on the phone and realized the last time he had exchanged numbers with a stranger was with his ex-boyfriend. The same embarrassment and jump in his stomach that happened when he gave his number to Kuroo came back as he typed in the digits to his own cell phone.

And with those memories flooding back, Tsukishima immediately typed a new response to change the subject to, literally, anything else.

_What are you writing?_

Yamaguchi smiled and took his computer back. He minimized the screen they had been communicating on and opened up a different document. Yamaguchi tilted the screen back to Tsukishima so he could read the title.

SOUNDS THROUGH DEAF EARS

by Tadashi Yamaguchi

  


Tsukishima thought for a second, trying to remember one of the signs he was taught, and then signed, _What?_

Yamaguchi smiled and switched back to the blank document. Tsukishima forgot how happy it seemed to make Yamaguchi when he signed.

 _I'm doing a piece on people's favorite sounds, and my responses to them. It's an idea I've had for a while and my editor approved it!_ Yamaguchi wrote.

 _Ah. What kinds of sounds did people give you?_ Tsukishima typed in response.

 _The chirping sound a cat makes when it wants food, croaks of spring peepers, cicadas, crashing of ocean waves, a harpsichord, thunder, and bicycle bells._ Yamaguchi wrote back. He smiled and lifted his right hand to his chest.

 _You like these?_ He signed. He'd pointed to Tsukishima and then touched his middle finger and thumb together, pulling something like an invisible thread out of his chest.

Tsukishima only vaguely remembered that sign, but caught on to what Yamaguchi meant in a second. He pointed to thunder, a harpsichord, and cicadas.

Yamaguchi nodded his head and typed out a longer response.

_I like how lightning looks in the dark, and love how I can feel loud thunder in my chest. Harpsichords remind me of my grandfather- he had a beautiful one in his study and always let me play with it, even though I was probably making terrible sounds! I don't like cicadas, the shells they leave behind are creepy._

_Cats are really sweet, I think. My parents had a cat when I was younger, and she liked to sit on my lap and purr all the time. I'm not sure what a spring peeper is so I had to do a little research on it. I think frogs are gross. Crashing waves and bicycle bells remind me of summertime, so I like the visuals of them a lot._

_Basically, I'm interested in learning about favorite sounds because it can change my perspective. I don't like cicadas, but the girl I interviewed said it reminds her of visiting her late-aunts house during vacation. Sounds evoke memories, just like smells. That's what I really like._

_Do you have a favorite sound?_

Did he? Tsukishima thought about sounds he liked. He liked music for sure, it was always on in the background when he was studying or walking. But that was too vague. He also loved the sound of silence, but that was the wrong answer to give for about a dozen reasons. He thought about memories associated with sounds and remembered a pleasant one that seemed to be just right.

 _The sound a volleyball makes when it hits something._ Tsukishima wrote.

 _Ooooh, interesting! Why?_ Yamaguchi replied.

_Reminds me of my brother. We both played in high school. We had a little bit of a falling out, but the 'thwack' sound makes me think of when we got along the best._

Yamaguchi nodded. He typed back quickly with a grin on his face. _I tried playing in high school for a little bit too! I wasn't very good at it, but I still had fun. I didn't like the feeling on a volleyball hitting my face though :(_

A tiny smile escaped Tsukishima's lips. Yamaguchi looked at him with a fake look of offendedness for thinking his pain was funny. They typed back and forth easily after that. After an hour of talking they parted ways, Yamaguchi needing to finish and submit the article before midnight, and Tsukishima needing to study for an exam.

 

* * *

Music blared from Tsukishima's computer while he flipped through flashcards at his desk. He'd only stop to take a bite of his dinner or a sip of coffee, both of which were significantly colder from when he started studying. Maybe it was because chemistry came easy to him, or because he'd felt at ease for the first time in a week, but he was in the zone. He'd been incredibly predictive all evening, even managing to finish a math assignment that had been giving him trouble. He was so focused that he missed the alert for a text message on his phone, and only realized someone had texted him when his phone buzzed for the second time.

He swiped it open to read the two new messages.

 

[From: unknown]

I submitted the article!!

 

[From: unknown]

This is Tadashi, by the way (´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

 

Tsukishima shook his head; of course Yamaguchi was the type of person to use emoji's like that. He figured he and Suga would get along well, seeing as Suga used an unnecessary amount of faces when he texts. Tsukishima added Yamaguchi as a new contact and typed a reply.

 

[To: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Nice. I'm nearly done with studying.

 

[From: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

owo you study for such a short amount of time!! I need hours to prepare!!

 

[To: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

I pick things up quickly in class. Chemistry is also easy.

 

[From: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Easy?!

 

[From: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Show off...

 

Tsukishima smiled, feeling more comfortable in the privacy in his room to react how he'd wanted to react all day. He started typing back when Yamaguchi send another message before he could hit send.

 

[From: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Oh! I meant to ask, but how did you find me earlier???

 

[To: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

I went to the ASL club room to find you. Two girls helped me out.

 

Tsukishima realized after he sent it that it sounded slightly creepy. He figured Yamaguchi thought that as well when he didn't get an immediate response.

 

[To: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Sorry if that's creepy.

 

[From: Yamaguchi Tadashi]

Creepy?? No, that's incredibly sweet of you! (✿◠ ‿ ◠)

Tsukishima felt his stomach twist again. He didn't question himself this time. He let it happen, and accepted that for whatever reason, Yamaguchi was affecting him. And he didn't hate it.

 


End file.
